Alternative Album of the Year 2017

July Talk

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July Talk’s debut record became a staple on modern-rock radio, earning the band a gold record in Canada and a JUNO Award for “Alternative Album of the Year,” while worldwide deals with Island, Polydor and Universal had spread the good word overseas. But July Talk’s performances had remained unchanged: the jugular-seizing power of their confrontational, sensuous rock-‘n’-roll. Whether you’re experiencing it in the dingiest basement dive or the biggest festival field, a July Talk show makes you feel like you’re part of some secret-society congregation.

When it came time to draft the action plan for album number two, July Talk turned to the only focus group that mattered: those sweat-soaked fans slithering up against one another to lose their minds and morals at the band’s electrifying concerts. That’s the space where the blinding contrasts in July Talk’s music—Leah Fay’s crystalline communiqués vs. Peter Dreimanis’ three-cartons-a-day bark; greasy southern blues vs. urbane new-wave cool; sexual tension vs. cathartic release—collide with thundercloud force, and their new record Touch represents its perfect, lightning-in-a-bottle distillation.

Since the release of their debut album, they have toured Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia, and played numerous festivals, including the WayHome Music and Arts Festival near Toronto; Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta; Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans,; Osheaga in Montreal; Isle of Wight Festival in the U.K.; and Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin.